BXBX NOVEL Chapter 256
The most significant advancement in the Refinement Realm wasn’t solely the ability for the primordial spirit to exit the body but also the mastery and control of the laws, energy, and authority of the natural world. Every strike in the Refinement Realm could tap into the power of the heavens and earth, amplifying its force. By utilizing certain artifacts, one could harness the authority of the natural world on a grand scale.
For instance, consider Elder Jing’s virtual Void Sun Mirror, capable of gathering sunlight from a wide area and concentrating it into a potent beam. Therefore, the stage beyond Nascent Soul was not named the “Out-of-Body Stage” but the “Refinement Realm.” In this context, the term “virtual” can be understood as the ethereal or broader concept of the natural world. In this realm, one refined and employed the power of the heavens and earth.
Theoretically, one could achieve an infinite lifespan by nourishing the physical body with the never-ending vitality of the natural world. This encapsulated the essence of the Refinement Realm.
However, breaking through from Nascent Soul to the Refinement Realm was no easy feat. Li Su could achieve it independently once he attained Nascent Soul perfection. Nevertheless, he realized that doing so by himself might take a considerable amount of time. Advancing to the Refinement Realm required the primordial spirit to resonate with the heavens and earth, creating a connection between the divine and the natural. Even this step alone consumed a significant amount of time. Furthermore, Li Su encountered another bottleneck, although it didn’t appear as severe as the previous one.
The emergence of bottlenecks lacked a discernible pattern. Li Su possessed a solid comprehension, yet he encountered two bottlenecks after achieving Nascent Soul perfection. Li Su viewed this as an opportunity to delve deeper into the nature of bottlenecks. They didn’t daunt him. He could overcome them in his unique way. However, Li Su’s concubines and his spiritual roots’ descendants were cautious. With his current alchemical skills, Li Su could continually study bottlenecks and create specific elixirs to surmount them.
A subtle difference separated the Refinement Realm from the Nascent Soul stage. Li Su could craft first-grade Golden Pills, possessed a top-tier Nascent Soul, and had a renowned Purple Gold Primordial Spirit. However, in the Refinement Realm, Li Su’s Purple Gold Primordial Spirit remained as it was, without undergoing a qualitative transformation merely by reaching the Refinement Realm. This meant that the exceptional capabilities of the Nascent Soul stage could carry over into the Refinement Realm. Nevertheless, despite possessing the same primordial spirit, breaking through to the Refinement Realm still brought about significant distinctions.
The disparity lay in the communication and resonance with the heavens and earth in divine and natural interaction. Of course, this gap wasn’t as pronounced as the primordial spirit’s strength differences. The strength of the primordial spirit remained the critical factor determining how much control a Refinement Realm cultivator could exert over the heavens and earth. In summary, the strength or weakness of a Refinement Realm cultivator is still centered around the primordial spirit’s power.
Similarly, the strength or weakness of individuals above the Refinement Realm was closely linked to their primordial spirit. Beyond the Refinement Realm was the Fusion Realm, where the sect leader could have offspring with Li Su. In the Fusion Realm, the primordial spirit primarily merged with the physical body, resulting in a significant power boost. This represented the culmination of various teachings and practices in cultivation.
Why was the Nascent Soul stage considered the starting point for achieving immortality? Everything preceding the Nascent Soul stage served as the foundation when viewed from a higher perspective. Foundation building, Golden Core cultivation, forming the Nascent Soul (Original Infant), and eventually reaching the Nascent Soul stage—each step contributes to building a solid foundation. Achieving a high-quality Golden Core became challenging without a sturdy foundation in the foundation-building stage. Without an excellent Golden Core, it was difficult to cultivate a top-tier Nascent Soul, let alone attain a Purple-Gold Nascent Soul.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The Nascent Soul stage is built upon and inherited from the preceding stages. The quality and strength of one’s Nascent Soul directly dictated the ease or difficulty of progress in later stages of cultivation. While it was possible to make adjustments and improvements to these foundations as one became more potent, doing so demanded substantial effort at that point.
Indeed, retroactively modifying and improving these foundations had limitations, especially concerning fundamental qualities or levels. While strength could be enhanced to some extent, rectifying the essential nature or level of one’s cultivation was challenging. For instance, once someone possessed a Purple-Gold Nascent Soul like Li Su or a Refinement Void stage like a sect leader, attempting to create a higher-level Refinement Void stage was unrealistic after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
“1000 points of Void-breaking Energy,” Li Su whispered. According to the system panel, breaking through the Nascent Soul stage required a minimum of 1,000 points of Void-breaking Energy, with an upper limit of 2,589 points. Void-breaking energy covered the energy needed to break through the bottleneck, constituting a significant portion of the energy requirement. While the quantity might not seem substantial, the exchange rate for Void-breaking Energy could vary.